Richard Li | |
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![]() Li attending the trophy presentation ceremony of the Queen Elizabeth II Cup at the Sha Tin Racecourse on 30 April 2023 | |
Chairman of Hong Kong Telecom | |
Assumed office 11 November 2011 | |
Chairman of Pacific Century Group | |
Assumed office 10 May 2004 | |
Preceded by | Charles Chan Kwok-keung |
Chairman of PCCW | |
Assumed office 3 August 1999 | |
Preceded by | Peter Oei Hong Leong |
Personal details | |
Born | Deep Water Bay,British Hong Kong | 8 November 1966
Citizenship | Canada [1] |
Domestic partner | Isabella Leong (2008–2011) |
Children | 3 |
Parent(s) | Li Ka-shing Chong Yuet-ming |
Relatives | Victor Li Tzar-kuoi (brother) |
Alma mater | Stanford University (dropped out) |
Li Tzar Kai | |||||||||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 李澤楷 | ||||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 李泽楷 | ||||||||||||
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Richard Li Tzar-kai is a Hong Kong businessman and philanthropist. The founder and chairman of the private investment group Pacific Century Group (PCG), [2] Li started his career in the 1990s with the founding of STAR TV,a pan-Asian television network. [3] After founding PCG in 1993, [3] he went on to establish PCCW [4] and HKT Trust. [5]
In 2010, [6] PCG acquired the asset management business of AIG Investments [7] and renamed it to PineBridge Investments. [6] In 2013,PCG founded FWD Group. [8] Richard Li currently serves as chairman of PCG, [2] PCCW Ltd. and HKT Limited. He is also on the boards of companies including Pinebridge Investments. [9] Forbes listed his net worth in 2020 at $4.5 billion,ranking him 20th on its list of the richest businesspeople in Hong Kong. [2]
Li was born in 1966 at his parent's residence in 79 Deep Water Bay Road,Deep Water Bay,Hong Kong, [3] [10] Richard Li Tzar-kai is the youngest son of businessman Li Ka-shing. [11] Li and his older brother Victor spent their childhoods in Hong Kong,where Li attended St. Paul's Co-educational College. He left Hong Kong at age thirteen to be educated at Menlo School in Atherton,California. In high school,he worked at McDonald's and as a caddy at the local golf course. [3] He studied computer engineering at Stanford University until 1987. [12] Citing personal reasons,he withdrew from university after three years. [13]
For the first three years of his career,Li managed funds at an investment bank in Toronto,Canada, [3] acquiring Canadian citizenship in the 1980s. [4] In 1990 he began working in the fund-management department at Hutchison Whampoa in Hong Kong. [3] At Hutchison Whampoa,he was an executive director from 1992 until 1993 and deputy chairman from 1993 until 2000. [9]
In 1990,Li began building his own company,STAR TV,a pan-Asian satellite-television network that streamed American television. According to Wired magazine,the service "triggered a vast cultural shift,injecting a massive dose of Western popular entertainment into... more than 50 countries [by 2005]." STAR TV proved lucrative,and in 1993 and 1995 Li sold the network to Rupert Murdoch for a total of USD$950.5 million. [3]
Using the funds raised from the sale of STAR TV,in 1993 Li founded Pacific Century Group (PCG),an Asia-based investment group [3] with Li serving as CEO and chairman. [9] Li subsequently oversaw PCG's investments in real estate, [3] financial services,technology,and media &telecommunications. [14] [ non-primary source needed ]
He was an executive director at Hongkong Electric Holdings from 1993 until 2000, [9] and chairman of Singapore-based Pacific Century Regional Developments Limited starting in 1994, [15] [9] a role he still held in 2020. [9]
In 1996,Li established Pacific Century CyberWorks (PCCW). [16] [4] [9] Serving as the company's chairman starting in 1999, [15] [9] he remained chairman when the company changed its name to PCCW Ltd. in 2002. [9]
In his early financial dealings with PCCW,his Canadian citizenship allowed him to bid on companies such as Air Canada and Bell Canada Enterprises without running afoul of restrictions on foreign ownership. [4] PCCW acquired Cable &Wireless HKT for US$38 billion in 2000,in "what was then Asia's largest corporate takeover." The acquisition made PCCW the largest fixed-lined network and wireless operator in Hong Kong. [17] Li joined the board of the Bank of East Asia in 2001,retaining the role until 2017. [15]
In 2004,he created the property company PCPD,or Pacific Century Premium Developments,as a spinoff from PCCW, [18] and was chairman of PCPD from 2004 until 2019. [9]
As chairman of both PCCW [19] and PCCW's executive committee, [15] in 2011 Li was involved in the spinoff and initial public offering of PCCW's telecommunications assets on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. With the spinoff named HKT Trust, [5] the listing plan was approved by the exchange in June 2011 [20] and PCCW shareholders [19] on 12 October 2011, [21] allowing for the creation of Hong Kong's first publicly traded business trust. [19] The IPO ultimately raised around $1.2 billion. [5] with PCCW maintaining a majority interest in both HKT Trust and HKT Limited. [22] In November 2011, [9] Li became chairman of HKT Trust,HKT Limited,and HKT's executive committee. [15]
With Li as chairman,in December 2013 HKT agreed to acquire CSL New World Mobility,a subsidiary of Telstra,for HK$18.8 billion. The transaction was completed in early 2014. [17] In March 2015,PCCW Media acquired the mobile video provider Vuclip,and launched the streaming service Viu. [23] Viu was rolled out to 24 markets globally over the next two years, [24] and,by 2017,Viu,Vuclip,and the music streaming service MOOV had been bundled into the company PCCW OTT. That August,PCCW OT secured new investors including Hony Capital,Foxconn Ventures and Temasek. [25] [26] Li was 15th in the Forbes list of Hong Kong's 50 richest people for 2017. [27] The same publication named him 385th in the list of the world's billionaires,with an estimated fortune of $4.3 billion. [28]
In September 2009,Li oversaw PCG's acquisition of AIG Investments for around $500 million, [7] renaming the asset management company PineBridge Investments. [29]
Re-entering the insurance business, [30] in March 2013,Li's PCG acquired the Hong Kong,Macau and Thailand insurance business of ING Groep N.V. [8] for $2.1 billion, [31] renaming it FWD Group. [8] With backing by Swiss Re,Li expanded FWD Group through acquisitions, [31] appointing Ronald Arculli as FWD chairman in October 2013. [30] In 2015,Li then appointed former Canadian foreign affairs minister John Baird as a non-executive director to both FWD and PineBridge. [32] By 2016,Li had overseen FWD's expansion into Indonesia,the Philippines,Singapore,Vietnam and Japan. [33] [34] [35]
After Li purchased the Hanazono resort in Niseko,Hokkaido in 2007 [36] through his company Pacific Century Premium Developments,development was delayed by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster. [37]
By 2018,he had invested a total of US$930 million in the project,with an onsen,apartments,and two hotels including a Park Hyatt [36] nearing completion by late 2019. [37]
In 2018,Li was quoted stating that his insurance businesses took up "70% to 80% of his time," with Li focused on expanding FWD in the Southeast Asian markets. [38] In 2019,FWD had around $30 billion in assets under management. [31] Also in 2019,Li's HKT announced it was establishing one of the first licensed virtual banks in Hong Kong,and in 2020 launched 5G wireless services. [39] Under Li,the insurance group bolttech was launched in early 2020. [40]
He continued to chair Pacific Century Group in 2020, [2] and remained chairman of PCCW Ltd. and HKT Limited. Also on the boards of companies such as PineBridge, [9] Li oversees PCCW subsidiaries such as PCCW Media and the IT and business process outsourcing company PCCW Solutions. [22] As of December 2020,Forbes estimated his net worth at $4.5 billion,ranking him 20th on its list of the richest businesspeople in Hong Kong,and 401st on its list of the world's billionaires. [2]
Li is currently a member of the Global Information Infrastructure Commission,the United Nations,and the Center for Strategic and International Studies' [9] International Councillors Group in Washington DC. [41] [42] He was previously the Governor of the World Economic Forum for Information Technologies and Telecommunications, [9] as well as a representative of the Hong Kong government at the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) from 2009 to 2014. [43] He was praised by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development,Rita Lau,for "helping [to] raise Hong Kong's profile in this important regional business forum". [44] [45]
Li served as a council member of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, [46] but his association with the university has since ended. [47] He is a full member of the Hong Kong Computer Society. [48]
In 2006,Li donated CA$1 million to the Canadian National Arts Centre Foundation in Ottawa, [49] [32] which led to the establishment of the Annual Richard Li Young Artist Chair,putting young musicians each year under the mentorship of musical maestros. [49]
Through PCCW,Li has overseen a number of relief efforts and charity programs. During the 2002–03 SARS outbreak,PCCW provided telecommunication services to patients,medical staff,and fundraisers. Li also established a story time program for children kept home to prevent infection,and call centre support for charity fundraisers and community activists. Under Li,PCCW also donated $1 million to the Business Community Relief Fund for Victims of SARS,with employees volunteering man-hours as well. Later in 2007,PCCW volunteers participated in the District Elderly Campaign,which delivers gift packages to the elderly. [50]
After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,Li's PCG donated surgical masks to health care workers and NGOs in Hong Kong in February 2020. [51]
Li was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia in November 2011. [52] He has also been presented with a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal for "outstanding business and charitable contributions to Canada." [32]
Li's girlfriend Isabella Leong,a former Hong Kong singer,gave birth to their son Ethan in April 2008, [53] followed by twin sons in June 2010. [54] Leong announced in March 2011 that the couple had amicably ended their relationship and that both would be caring for the children. [55] [56] Li is a licensed pilot in the United States and Canada, [48] as well as a licensed divemaster. [57] In 2016,Li bought his own top-level domain (.richardli) for $250,000. [58]